The Farmyard at Cathedral

[bulldogboy]

Evening All,

The family(parents and a 12 and 15 year old) is booked to stay at The Farmyard grounds at Cathedral Range this Saturday. Any advice re water availability, night temp, recommended walks or anything else much appreciated. Also how busy is it likely to be? Thanks.

[trickos]

Gday, Could be busy given it's a weekend (although GF Day) but there's heaps of grassy space. Getting a flat spot might be tough though. Carry water in - there is a creek back down the track towards Cooks Mill but don't trust that it would be flowing.
Heaps of walks to either North or South Jawbones which are close by. If you want a day of adventure you could head out along the ridge lines towards Cathedral Peak (easier) or Sugarloaf (harder) Check out this Parks map.
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets ... e-Park.pdf
Could be a bit chilly and gets reasonably windy although sheltered. Keep a look out for Lyre Birds - amazing creatures.

[ErichFromm]

I've only ever seen one tent at Farmyard. There is enough flat ground for quite a few though so that shouldn't be a problem. No water unless you carry it in (most likely via the jawbone). A good walk is to Sugarloaf (great views), but can be a bit tricky going down unless you know what you are doing. Not recommended to carry full back packs and weather is an factor. Last I heard walk the other way (towards Neds Gully) has a lot of overgrown tracks).

Note the walk up the jawbone to Farmyard is quite steep too - so don't plan on doing multiple trips back down to the car...

You are not supposed to have fires at Farmyard - but everytime I walk through it there is evidence of a recent fire someone had.

[Earwig]

Coz the Farmyard is a walk-in campspot (just over an hour from the Jawbones Carpark – the nearest access) it’s usually not crowded – three of four tents would be the busiest I’ve ever seen it. It’s supposed to rain up that way tomorrow so there should be water in the creek about 100m or so east of the Farmyard down the track to Jawbones Carpark. The weekend is meant to be coolish, small chance of drop or two of rain – nothing to stop the trip; probably good conditions for hiking. I’d keep an eye on this site for the weather.

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/vic/north-central/eildon

The Jawbone Peaks are great, shorter walks from the Farmyard. Otherwise wander along the range. Sugarloaf and Cathedral Peak are both worth it but if you don’t want to carry packs along the whole range then do them as day walks from Sugarloaf Saddle or Neds Gully.

[ryantmalone]

There is usually a small stream of water about 10 mins walk down the Jawbones track. There is a small pad that leaves the track to the left, when heading down. Its impossible to miss, as you will hear it if it is running. However I would bring water up from Jawbones Creek, which you cross 100 meters after the Jawbones car park, just in case the creek below the Farmyard is not that reliable.

I've walked the Cathedrals in winter, and its not too bad at night. If it gets wet, you're going to get seriously wet though, because of all the scrub on the ridge. That is, if you are walking the jawbones.

[bulldogboy]

Thanks everyone, will post report when we return. Hoping to see Russell Coight up there

[bulldogboy]

Hi,

Just a quick report. Unfortunately the sign for Jawbone car park where we were leaving the car had been removed/vandalized and the park itself is a bit hidden when approaching from Cook's Mill. This resulted in us (and others) heading on towards Sugarloaf before turning around on the narrow road.

It was a good challenging walk up to the farmyard with the full packs. The recent rains meant the creek was flowing beautifully.
Got to the Farmyard in about 75 minutes even with half a dozen stops. What a ripper campsite. Nice and green and flatish. Two other groups joined us for the night and a good time was had. Millions of stars. Strong winds surrounded us but not within the campsite.

Lots of flowers out and plenty of fragrant foliage when you rub it between your fingers. Jawbone peaks, great views.
Drove to Sugarloaf to do the canyon walk up to the peak. While it is correctly classified as hard i would add that there is also 20 metres of challenging rock climbing and descending! Would be loathe to attempt when wet.

The kids and i had a great time and boy lunch at the Healesville bakery tasted so good on the way back....

[ErichFromm]

Glad you had a good time bulldogboy. Glad it wasn't me walking up the jawbone with a full pack

[Earwig]

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Farmyard is a great campspot. The Sugarloaf is fun too, a rather challenging ascent, but fun. The other route up - Cave Track - is harder still. I hope the kids enjoyed it and will want to hike some more. I'd recommend The Bluff as a great follow up two day walk (Refrigerator Gap - the Bluff - Bluff Hut and return) or over three days (Eight Mile - Eight Mile Spur - the Bluff - Bluff Hut - Ritchies Hut).

You can have a read here about the longer Bluff hike - you will have to scroll down a bit
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=14010

[ryantmalone]

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Farmyard is a great campspot. The Sugarloaf is fun too, a rather challenging ascent, but fun. The other route up - Cave Track - is harder still. I hope the kids enjoyed it and will want to hike some more.

Agreed with coming over Sugarloaf. Definitely harder, maybe not so much for the younger kids though.

The Wells Cave track up Sugarloaf is one hell of a climb, quite airy in spots. I've heard many people refer to it as being good training for the Western Arthurs in Tassie.

The Canyon Track is much more straight forward, however it does involve some awkward scrambling towards the top.

Coming down from Sugarloaf, and part way along the Razorback is a very decent scramble, and is airy in spots. Very highly recommended, however in spots, a fall could be pretty dangerous.

I did this walk earlier this year, my report is at http://www.bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=12509